Conference moira::parenting_v3

    
    Maybe you could start him on table food.  My kids used to love eating
    soft foods with thier fingers (yes, even at a very early age).  Try
    canned peas and ripe bananas.  (after you consult your doctor!)  I made
    my own baby food right from the beginning and my kids seemed to prefer
    it.  I'd use regular ingredients and just throw it in the food
    processor until it was smooth.  Then I'd freeze it in ice cube
    containers and pop them out when frozen into freezer zip lock bags. 
    Then I'd just take one for each meal of whatever they were going to eat
    and pop it into the microwave for about 30 seconds!  (Ain't modern
    mothering wonderful!)
    
    Anyway, maybe your son just doesn't like the pre made stuff.  It's
    worth a try...
    
    
    jean

    It seems like your son might just skip directly to table food.  My
    daughter is only 6 months old so I haven't gotten that far yet, but my
    babysitter plans to make homemade baby food as soon as she'll eat it.
    Since it's the same food - why not go ahead with table food, mashed,
    strained, or prepared as such for your son?
    
    My daughter started on solids at 4 months and has taken pretty well to
    them (except for green vegetables for some reason) The purpose for
    starting her so young was to get her accustomed to eating from a spoon. 
    That's how she eats her cereal - not from a bottle.  Now she is vey
    good at eating this way and it's a matter of adding new foods every
    week. 
    
    If your son likes what he is eating - the table food, I would think you
    could just continue with that. Or maybe try the later stage baby food -
    for older babies or toddlers.  I realize you purchased a lot of baby
    food but he may be past that stage already.  I know that's not what you
    wanted to hear...
    
    I'd be interested in hearing what others have to say about this.
    
    
    Mary
    

    
    My daughter turned 9 months yesterday.  She will rarely eat baby food 
    anymore.  In fact she seems to eat best off my plate. I just mash up
    what I'm eating with a fork.  Baby food became boring after table food.
    She shared my tuna sandwich with me yesterday -- screamed until I gave
    here lettuce and tomatoes too. Then she had to have pizza for dinner.
    
    I too, have a cupboard full of beginner baby food that I'm not sure what
    to do with. One offbeat solution was to feed the fruits to my six year
    old son, the baby was willing to take a few bites if she saw big
    brother eating the stuff.  
    
    Our pedi thinks this is wonderful, he says she should be off all baby
    food by 12 months.  He claims baby food is expensive and unnecessary.
    He also said NO solids in the bottle, babies need to learn to eat with
    a spoon. 
    
    I agree that baby food is much easier to deal with, especially at
    restaurants, but I've made some adjustments.  Now I carry crackers,
    yogurt, instant Cream of Wheat, Cheerios, etc. until my meal comes.
    
    We've had to clean up our own act too, if she sees us with Cheetos, donuts,
    Valentine candy, etc. she demands a taste!
    
    All this with NO TEETH!
    
    My question is, while I'm at work, she used to drink 2 bottles of
    expressed breast milk.  Now that she's eating solids, she refuses the
    bottle in any form.  She does real well from a sipper cup.  But its
    only a couple of ounces. 
    Is this enough liquid?  Sometimes I'm away 12 hours.............
    
    Rochelle
            

    If you're serving Baby table food, just be sure the salt content is
    very low or nil.  Ditto sugar.  Honey's not recommended for babies
    under a year due to possible botulism spores.

    to .3
    
    Is your baby still wetting the same amount of diapers? That's a real
    good indication that she's getting enough liquid. I believe it's pretty
    common for the actual liquid intake to go down from bottle to cup.
    Remember that many foods have a fairly high liquid content, and she
    gets it from that, too, now that's she's on solids.
    
    --dave--

    As far as getting rid of the stock on hand, you can always give it to a
    soup kitchen where it would be put to *very* good use.
    
    Some babies just don't like the dull texture of baby food from a jar.
    There is another note here that lists a bunch of different table food
    to try.  
    
    Also, you can try again in a month or so.  He may like it better then.
    This rule also works when babies don't like a particular type of food,
    like the green vegetables that a previous reply mentioned.  My daughter
    refused green beans and a month later she accepted them just fine.
    
    This too will pass...
    
    judy

    	
    	This has been very helpful -
    
    	I just wanted to make sure my baby wasn't unusual.  I don't mind
    	giving him table food, that's kind of fun too.  At least with 
    	the table food he doesn't make those faces.  I want to be able 
    	to give him something healthy besides formula.
    
    	We are very careful with salt/sugar.  He will have enough of 
    	that when he gets older.
    
    	Thanks
    
    	Tricia
    

    Maybe I was a *terrible* mother, but I never gave my children baby
    food, or any other kind of solid food until they were around 7 months
    old  - til then, it was only breast milk.  Adele Davis and my
    pediatrician were my primary advisors.
    
    After then, it was food from our plates, in little tiny pieces, onto
    their highchair trays.  Some of the food made it into their mouths.
    I did not bother to analyze fluids - they drank from cups (well, sort 
    of), sucked on ice (a favorite!), etc...
    
    They now appear to be healthy teenagers - physically (teenagers are
    *never* normal mentally).
    
    -m

    This all sounds like good advice, so I will just add 1 word of caution
    - take a look at those "Toddler" foods - things like TableTime, or the
    Gerber ones that are MADE for toddlers with little chunks of food in
    them.  Compare the salt content, and you'll die!!!  I forget exactly
    but it was something like tripled or quadrupled from what normal
    babyfood is - and if you taste it, you can taste the salt in it - I
    guess it's one way to be sure your baby keeps drinking! (-:
    
    Save the baby fruits, they'll eat them later almost guaranteed.  Get
    rid of the meat and veggies - there's lots of preggos in here that
    could use them!!
    

    My son prefers the jarred meats.  I tried giving him some turkey
    that I had put in the blender and he would not eat it.  He does
    like when I bake a potato or sweet potato for him, but will not
    touch the chicken or turkey I cook.  He's 7 months old and doesn't
    have any teeth yet, so I think he just hasn't gotten the chewing
    concept down yet.
    
    Lori B.

    I've always made my son Andy's food (he's about 8 1/2 months now)
    and at about 7 months he clearly indicated that he wanted to feed
    himself. (He screamed when I tried to feed him with a spoon - was
    happy when I just placed diced-up food in front of him). The one
    time I tried to give him jarred baby food he absolutely refused it.
    We opened 6 jars of food and he wouldn't touch any of it. So he eats
    all kinds of adult food now - and, by the way, he doesn't have any
    teeth yet. 
    
    Sue
    
    P.S. I do know some babies that don't like applesauce! 

    My son is 6 months old and has been solely on formula.
    He had his 6 month check up yesterday and we talked about starting
    him on solids.  The doctor said he was old enough and could handle
    table food, just blend to mush.  He said that baby food in a jar 
    was a gimmick and expensive and that he would do just fine with
    what every we ate.  
    
    I'm looking forward to starting him on solids (I think).  I really 
    like the idea about freezing in ice cube trays, I was wondering how
    I was going to do it for individual servings.
    
    Julie
    

    I don't think your son's unusual... I think you lucked out!  He passed
    the (expensive/inconvenient) stage of baby food, straight to table
    food.  That's great!
    
    By the way, before you throw that jarred baby food out, take a look at
    the expiration date on the cap.  Sometimes they'll last for years in
    those little jars.  Perhaps even long enough for #2?  ;-}
    
    

    My 10 month old son only likes the sweet potatoes,squash,carrots,
    and all fruit from the jars. So, I started mushing the food from 
    my plate and he loves it all including greens and meats.
    You could save the unused baby food for the next baby or how about
    tying little ribbons on the jars and give as baby shower gift?
    

    I wish I had your problem.  My 14 month old son refuses to eat table
    food.  All he'll eat is baby food vegetables and mixed dinners.  I tried
    giving him one of the Junior foods yesterday...you'd think I had tried
    to poison him!  He doesn't like any kind of textured foods.  He doesn't
    even like mashed potatoes!  And he has plenty of teeth, just doesn't
    feel the need to use them.  I've tried pureeing my own foods, but no
    dice.  The only non-baby foods he'll eat are yogurt, crackers, and
    toast.  I'd love to get rid of those stupid little jars!
    Sarah